METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING DISASTER RECOVERY USING NETWORK PEERING ARRANGEMENTS

• US 20090103526A1
• Filed: 12/23/2008
• Published: 04/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hossein Eslambolchi, Marian Croak
• Original Assignee: Hossein Eslambolchi, Marian Croak
• Inventors: Croak, Marian, Eslambolchi, Hossein
• Granted Patent: US 8,238,353 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42

Abstract

The present invention enables network providers to create peering arrangements with other providers that allow them to fail over to other networks in the event of a site failure. This invention would lower the cost to provide site diversity within a provider'"'"'s network by allowing cost sharing between the provider'"'"'s network and other networks. For example, when an Application Server (AS) in a network fails, the network provider can send a call to a partner'"'"'s network and uses an AS in the partner'"'"'s network to process the call request.

Claims

1. A method for processing a call setup message in a communication network, comprising:

receiving the call setup message originating from an endpoint device in said communication network and terminating in a peering network;

determining whether a network element in said communication network is available to process said call setup message; and

forwarding said call setup message to said peering network to process said call setup message, if said network element in said communication network is unavailable to process said call setup message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said communication network comprises a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said peering network comprises a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said call setup message is initially received by a first call control element (CCE) in said communication network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said forwarding comprises:

forwarding said call setup message by said first CCE to a second CCE of said peering network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said network element comprises an application server (AS) in said communication network.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

accessing an application server (AS) in said peering network by said second CCE to process said call setup message.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining in said communication network a database of internet protocol (IP) addresses of a plurality of network elements of said peering network.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said communication network and said peering network are operated by different service providers.

10. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions including instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of a method for processing a call setup message in a communication network, comprising:

receiving the call setup message originating from an endpoint device in said communication network and terminating in a peering network;

determining whether a network element in said communication network is available to process said call setup message; and

forwarding said call setup message to said peering network to process said call setup message, if said network element in said communication network is unavailable to process said call setup message.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein said communication network comprises a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein said peering network comprises a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein said call setup message is initially received by a first call control element (CCE) in said communication network.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein said forwarding comprises:

forwarding said call setup message by said first CCE to a second CCE of said peering network.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein said network element comprises an application server (AS) in said communication network.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising:

accessing an application server (AS) in said peering network by said second CCE to process said call setup message.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising:

maintaining in said communication network a database of internet protocol (IP) addresses of a plurality of network elements of said peering network.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein said communication network and said peering network are operated by different service providers.

19. A system for processing a call setup message in a communication network, comprising:

means for receiving the call setup message originating from an endpoint device in said communication network and terminating in a peering network;

means for determining whether a network element in said communication network is available to process said call setup message; and

means for forwarding said call setup message to said peering network to process said call setup message, if said network element in said communication network is unavailable to process said call setup message.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein said communication network comprises a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network.